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Dive Review of Spirit of Niugini in
Papua New Guinea/Milne Bay

Spirit of Niugini: "Spirit of Niugini Liveaboard", Sep, 2017,

by Christopher Bartlett , London, UK ( 1 report with 1 Helpful vote). Report 10044 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments A 9-night trip to the seldom-visited Engineer Islands, Samarai, and the D'Entrecasteaux Islands in Milne Bay.

Service on the boat was good, but it was only half full, food was excellent and varied, and the dive sites were very very fishy. Even with a full capacity of 12 divers, there would be plenty of space, with a comfortable sun deck, outdoor and indoor lounges on the top deck, and a large salon that can seat 16 on the main deck.

Calypso yielded two lacy scorpionfish, Wampas had over a dozen juvenile grey reef sharks on it, we dived a P-38 Lightning at Basilaki Island 25 metres deep. We found Milne Bay Epaulette sharks 4 times, and the "Milne Bay' pygmy seahorse, like Severn's but different colours. Doublet's Reef and Pelagic Point, both out in the middle of nowhere, even by PNG standards, were swarming with barracudas and jacks, and on the reef top we found three large stingrays.
The mantas showed up fleetingly at Gona Bara Bara, and the fish on Little China made the sun set early.

We did four dives a day, and a few night dives, more would have been possible, but mot of us weren't that keen after four 70-minute-plus dives in the day.

There was also excellent macro at Samarai Wharf and Lawadi, Deacon's Reef is as surreal as ever, diver under the lee of the island with trees visible overhead as you marvel at the shallow gorgonian fans.

Images can be found here [bartlettimages.com link]
Websites Spirit of Niugini   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving [Unspecified]
Closest Airport Alotau (GUR) Getting There Via Port Moresby

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, cloudy Seas calm
Water Temp 28-29°C / 82-84°F Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 20-40 M / 66-131 Ft

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Diving on Nitrox, so depth limit was MOD. No time limits.
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas 1 or 2
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 4 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Big camera rinse tanks, plenty of tables on the top deck for cameras, charging station in the top deck lounge got rather cluttered (due to our poor use of space rather than lack of it).
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Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

Subscriber's Comments

By Ellen Marie Smith in MN, US at Jan 16, 2019 19:01 EST  
Thanks for sharing the photos! Hope to get there someday!
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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